A Thorn in the Roses
by Outlaw1
Summary: Darkclaw was a rat. Vermin. She had once been under the command of Cluny the Scourge. Never could she have thought to be living in Redwall. But now she is. And when an unexpected face shows up,she may have to fight forit, too.


AN: ok, mah first Redwall fic! =3 Oh, an, umm.I stole the Darkclaw name from the first book ^^* Sry, m'lad Jacques! (in saying that, I, unfortunately, do not own the Redwall series.isn't that obvious? ) ***  
  
"This is so bloody stupid." The rat moaned as the mousemaid Tealeaves forced her into a gaudy pink dress. "Now now, Miss Rosewater, this is the biggest celebration in Redwall history. You must look the part."  
  
"Look the part? I dun even belong in this place! The seas for me, 'Leaves mah gal." The ratmaid argued. Tealeaves sighed, knowing the girl would complain no matter what. "You should be thankful that the lady Cottonfur even allowed you to stay, Rosewater." "Would you stop callin' me dat ?! The names Darkclaw and you know it!" Darkclaw countered, her voice growing louder and louder. The mousemaid slammed her paw on a nearby table. The entire fitting room went quiet.  
  
"You are to be called whatever milady Cottonfur wishes! You are not some sea scum, I know it! Now stop acting like one!" The mouse screeched. Darkclaw hung her head in defeat. She would never accept that pansy name, and yet did not feel that now, right before the ceremony, which accepted rat, stoats, ferrets, and other vermin to have alliance with the Redwall mice would be such a good time to argue.  
  
"That's a good girl. Now come on, it has almost started!" The mouse said and led the rat wreathed in pink to the main hall. They sat down just as the Abbot Sunfur, with his golden fur, stood up on his chair.  
  
" Dearie me, such a short fellow, our abbot, wot? Can barely touch my bally eartips, he can't!" A hare whispered to Darkclaw. She was an older than the rest of Darkclaw's "group"- the hare, herself, and a rouge ottermaid- but she certainly didn't show it. Her name was Arrowtips, on account of her pointed ears. The otter giggled mischievously. She was covered in pirate tattoos, at which had been in no avail covered with a golden dress cloak. Her name was plainly Pike, and she could swim faster and deeper than the rest of the otters, despite her young age.  
  
That was the group. All three were not originally Redwallers, Pike from a pirate clan east of Mossflower, Darkclaw once being part of the Quarry Scoundrels. Arrowtips had once lived in Salamandastron, but was kidnapped at a young age by the Blue Horde and raised by a ferret. The Redwallers defeated the clans, and the members had been taken in, killed, or taken as prisoners. They all yearned for the life they once had, but instead sat in a crowded hall dressed in gaudy clothes with their fur silken and smooth. Though they hated to admit it, they were all very beautiful, but they did admit that, if it ever happened, they would switch their beauty for the lives of the vermin they once were.  
  
"Excuse me! Redwallers!" The abbot squeaked. "Today is a special day! It is the Day of Admittance. On this day.." Sunfur droned on and on. Darkclaw moaned as she saw two young mice grinning at her and her friends. Whitepaw and Marten. Whitepaw, true to his name, was a hideous mouse with a defective paw that's fur was a colorless white. Marten was a plain mouse whom looked nothing like the legendary Martin the Warrior. His parents, Pike had guessed, were just not very creative.  
  
".And that is why today is celebrated!" Sunfur finally concluded. Applause rang through the room, and a few mice dabbed at their eyes.  
  
"I hate mice." Darkclaw muttered as they and the rest of Redwall made its way out to the pound for swimming and celebrating. Pike nodded in agreement, and Arrowtips said a "Yes" through eating a oatmeal cake.  
  
"I mean, I can even stand squirrels. But mice are vain and weak." Darkclaw continued. Pike sighed. But Darkclaw had a reason to despise mice. Matthias killed her family and her friends when he battled Cluny. She had been taken prisoner and Whitepaw had released her and had asked her paw for marriage. Well, she had hurt him so much he was a regular in the informatory for months.  
  
"Hush, DC m'gal" Arrowtips muttered as the abbot came towards them, Whitepaw and Martin tagging along.  
  
"Hello you three." The ancient Abbot said," Having fun here at Redwall? Feeling at home?" Arrowtips put her paw around his shoulders.  
  
"Why, m'lud, 'tis a butiful place ya got here. But where's ya vittles?" She asked, her mouth watering.  
  
"Haha, Pillowtail, I'm sure there's some pastries around here." He said. Arrowtips winced as he said her "Redwall" name. As he left to say hello to some more people, Pike whispered.  
  
"Did they hafta give us new names?"  
  
"They want us to forget our past." Darkclaw said, wincing slightly. Pike frowned at her. She had been the one most effective by the change. While Arrowtips and Pike had been without family, Darkclaw had been a part of the Quarry Scoundrels. Her father had been an important general for Cluny. He was Fangburn the Merciless, and Matthias, the great Redwall warrior, had struck him down himself with a crimson slash.. He then kept on running, leaving her father to writhe and die without giving him a warrior's death. Darkclaw had seen Matthias strike her father down. She had run to his side, already tearing strips from her dirty and bloodstained tunic. But her father, the great Fangburn, lifted his paw to stop her.  
  
"D.Daughter." he had moaned, " Please.take care of y-your brother." He closed his eyes and winced once more. Sobbing, Darkclaw gave him a warriors death and for the rest of the night she dug a grave, right there in the battlefield. And her brother, her dear brother Ripfang was slaughtered at a young age at that same battle. She had been saved because she had been a woman.But Ripfang, he was just a pup! What could he have done? Darkclaw herself was a fierce warrior and served under Cluny, and yet she was saved.  
  
"Rosewater?" A voice awoke her from her thoughts. Martin stood there blushing. What did her want?  
  
"Would you like.to dance?" He asked. Behind him mice, squirrels, and otters where twirling around. Seeing Cottonfur, Darkclaw's adopted "Redwall mother" staring at her, Darkclaw sighed and accepted. She put her clawed paws on his shoulder and he put his shaking paws on her waist. She dared him to move his paws lower with a glare in her yellow slitted eyes. A slow tune hummed out of a flute played by a squirrelmaid and a harp strummed in tune. The sound of fine silk swooshing on the grass added to the tune, creating a romantic atmosphere.  
  
Pike laughed at Arrowtips, who was flirting with a well-built otter, saying she was really an otter, too. She had pulled down her ears with a long strand of grass and torn a brown strip of an old tunic, which she attached to her fluffy tail. Darkclaw smiled at her friend's antics and at the fact that the otter seemed to buy it.  
  
Suddenly a movement beyond the party a movement caught Darkclaw's sharp eyes. Moving out of Martin's paws she joined up with her friends, seeing that they had sensed something wrong, too. Suddenly a scream echoed through the soft music as the abbot fell down, an arrow stuck through his chest. Pandemonium spread through the party like wildfire as hundreds fought to get inside the protective walls of Redwall as a horde of rats marched out of the darkness of the forest. Arrowtips backed against a tree, ready for battle when she heard Darkclaw gasp. Thinking her friend had been hit, she turned sharply on her skilled footpaws. But what her friend's face showed was not pain. She was staring at the lead rat, a young male, perhaps younger than Darkclaw, with a scar running down his neck. He in turn was looking at her, his eyes wide. "R.Ripfang.." 


End file.
